You don’t have to spend a fortune or hire an electrician to make a dramatic difference in your outdoor lighting. If your deck needs an upgrade without breaking the bank, consider these budget-friendly ways to shine some light on your outdoor living area.

Rail Lighting

Available in both solar or battery-powered options, these virtually maintenance-free LED’s are an easy and affordable way to add an attractive style to your deck. Look for photocell technology, which automatically turns the light on at dusk and off at dawn, extending the life of the batteries and giving you even more bang for your buck.

With batteries lasting up to a year, these LED deck lights are an affordable way to illuminate your outdoor space.

It’s incredible the way lighting can change outdoor spaces. As is the case with indoor spaces, spending comparatively little on lighting can produce dramatic results. A DIY outdoor lighting project might be just the thing to make you fall in love with your home all over again. But before you begin an outdoor lighting project, it’s important to think about your options. Here are 10 tips for 10 approaches to outdoor lighting.

Do me a favor and imagine that you are in need of suggestions for a Fourth of July party. You head to Pinterest (where else?) and search “Fourth of July.” You are blinded by a barrage of red, white, and blue. On the screen are colored pretzels stacked into a replica of the American flag; painted mason jars (lots of mason jars); twine; tin cans; stars lovingly painted in water soluble paint on the grass. But here’s the thing. Fireworks are so much more important than any of these crafts or decorations.

Earlier this week, we received a question from a customer who wanted to know how bright our solar deck lights are. Are they bright enough to illuminate outdoor stairs, for example? Although we know the specifications of all the solar deck lights we sell, this question inspired me to complement my own abstract knowledge of solar deck lights with concrete, hands-on, experiential learning. This is an attempt to give our customer more than just a mere “Yes. They are bright enough.”

It’s full-on spring, and there seems to be a lot of activity in the landscape lighting world. That’s probably because landscape lighting is generally a great and affordable way to significantly improve the curb appeal of your home. Landscape lighting ideas abound on the internet, and, since it’s a popular season for landscape lights, I thought I would curate for you some of the best landscape lighting I have seen out there on the Web.

Step lights are both attractive and functional, as they illuminate stairs, paths, and hallways, in indoor and outdoor applications. Step lights are universally brilliant, but there are so many kinds of step lights, we figured we would help clarify your options in order to help you make an informed decision for your home, garden, or other space.

On a bright day in May 2006, J.R. Whitley attended his graduation ceremony at Appalachian State University. The person next to him, an English major, asked J.R. his major. When J.R. replied “Appropriate Technology,” the English major looked stunned. This anecdote is hilarious to me, because I was an English major, and, when J.R. said the words “appropriate technology” to me, I could only tentatively mmhmm because I had never heard of the field.

You know the sound of floodlights snapping to life in a stadium. In sports movies, the sound (usually enhanced for the sake of drama) heralds the movie’s climax. That final showdown. If the movie is any good, you really don’t know what’s going to happen, who’s going to win. It’s the sound of our attention being completely drawn into the drama before us. Floodlights symbolize our full engagement with the spectacle before us. Any of life’s quotidian stresses that may have bothered us before this showdown are forgotten.

via picaboo.com

Even when glimpsed from the highway for a split second, stadium lights engage our imaginations. The fact that we would construct such colossal, expensive contraptions in order to get lost in the drama of competition and spectacle is, actually, pretty heart-warming. In society, there are so many things that superficially divide us: Nothing brings us all back together like a football stadium on a Friday night. To see this emblem of our shared love of drama, our helplessness against the tendency to hope and dream and aspire despite our practical sides, on such a large scale is always cool to me.

So, in honor of the magic of giant stadiums and the way their giant lights capture our imaginations, here are five things about stadium lights I bet you didn’t know.

What is the Christmas season without Christmas lights and music? But what happens when you combine the two? Well, a wonderfully awesome Christmas light display of course! Check out our picks for the top 5 homes that combined the elements of lights and music to create unforgettable Christmas light displays.

1) The Holdman Family

Beautifully done, and extremely well organized, the Holdman family has been setting their Christmas display to music for years!

2) A Colorado Springs Home

This home goes above and beyond to spread the holiday cheer!

3) Gangham Style

What is 2013 without the widely renowned “Gangman Style” theme song? This home combines the funky fun song with a perfectly timed Christmas display.

4) Let’s Dance!

Although this one seems a little more fitting for a nightclub then a home, it still shines a fun light on combining music with a Christmas light display. Kudos for the creativity!

5) Fit for a Princess

So, maybe this one isn’t exactly “set” to music, but it is still one of the best home Christmas light displays we’ve seen. Even if this particular “home” is actually a castle belonging to a fairytale princess.

Do you know of any cool Christmas lighting displays that are timed to music?

It’s that time of year again! The dust has settled from Halloween and we’re gearing up for one of the busiest seasons in the lighting industry.

You might think it’s a little early to start worrying about the holiday season – and don’t worry, we’re not trying to be your weird neighbors with icicle lights on their porch in July. But when it comes to holiday lighting, there’s a lot to plan for if you want to get the most out of your efforts, so in the spirit of preparation, it’s never too early!

Everybody celebrates the holidays a little differently, so here are some tips for how to make your holiday lighting as special as you are.

1. Plan ahead.

Most people’s holiday decorating tradition involves a month of putting it off and suddenly realizing you can (or have to) do it today. But even minimal planning can make all the difference in your decorating. Decide ahead of time – as in, right now – approximately when the deadline for getting your decorations up is, and then make plans to get it done. Make decorating a priority, and you’ll actually be able to really enjoy them for the whole season.

Planning is also super helpful when it’s time to start hanging lights, because there’s not much worse than getting to the end of your last string of lights while on top of a 20-foot ladder – and you only made it across half the house. Do some simple calculations and a bit of research to decide what type of light you need and how much of it.Continue reading »